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Notion, which I wrote about in my last column, is a powerful music scoring and composition system that gave me fits because of its onerous copy protection. The program is utterly dependent on a bulky, oddly designed USB key. I finally got a working key and was able to use Notion, although having the key sticking out of the front of my tower machine left me in constant fear of breaking it off when I crossed my legs. When I used it on my laptop, I could no longer place the computer in my preferred position.

I suppose that requiring the USB key is a good defense against having serial numbers posted on the Internet, and it would certainly be an impediment to giving a copy of the software to your friend. But it's no defense at all in, say, an academic situation. You can start a roomful of PCs with one copy of Notion (www.notionmusic.com) just by moving the key from machine to machine. Why have so many locks on the door if you've left the window open?

Every musician I know who does scoring and composing uses a Macintosh, because the software is powerful and it doesn't crash. PC music software did not exactly cover itself with glory in the early days, but it's finally robust enough for professional use. I'm not a Mac user, so Notion is the most powerful notation software I've used. It can create gorgeous, detailed scores, from a simple melody line to a full orchestral score, with every imaginable kind of dynamic and expression marking. And when you play it back, it sounds as good as it looks. Notion's three CDs are mostly sound samples of instruments, and they're lush and expressive.

Still, it's not perfect. I'd like an option to hear the note I'm placing. My ear is often better than my eye in getting it right. Other software I use keeps track of the time left in each measure, subtracting rests or placeholder notes as I add new notes, which keeps me from writing measures that are impossible to play. Notion supports partial measures, and it fills in missing time with rests after the fact, which is nice but not as interactive. I was also annoyed that I couldn't grab a note and move it to a different pitch without deleting it and reentering it.Continue Reading

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About the Author

Bill Machrone is vice president of technology at Ziff Davis Publishing and editorial director of the Interactive Media and Development Group. He joined Ziff Davis in May 1983 as technical editor of PC Magazine, became editor-in-chief in September of that year, and held that position for the next eight years, while adding the titles of publisher and... See Full Bio

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